


Feuer und Wasser

by Em_i_a



Category: Rammstein
Genre: F/M, Mystery, Supernatural Elements, ghost - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-27
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2019-01-05 23:48:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12199716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Em_i_a/pseuds/Em_i_a
Summary: Adeline Muller is an seventeen year old outcast, who lives on a day to day regime of going to school, and coming home to her passed out mother everyday. To the community she is an unknown, to her classmates she is non existent, but when a missing case arises, and she awakens to find the victim in her bedroom, questions begin to come up in her mind. Will she be able to solve the mystery, or will it just slip through the cracks like any missing person's case?





	1. Snowfall

**Author's Note:**

> Okay guys! New story! Very excited, I have a lot of ideas for this, I even have the ending written out already (That's how excited I am for this thing!). I hope you guys enjoy, and tell me your thoughts in the comments!

 I sat on my bed, staring out the window, watching the snowfall in front of my eyes. I had been up since the night before, awaken by another nightmare about me dying, this time it was me accidentally getting t-boned by a drunk driver. These things were frequent, and most of the time I would stay up until the morning, which was when I had to get ready for school. I turned my head to my alarm clock, seeing the bright red numbers shining 5:54 am. School started at 8:00, so I had some time to spare. I decided to get up from my bed with the blankets draped around me, and grab my towel off my dresser, making my way to the bathroom so I could take a long hot shower before setting out on my quick, and cold journey to school. I opened the door of my bedroom and dragged my feet across the dark hardwood floor to get to the washroom directly across the hall. I stepped in and closed the door behind me, I felt along the wall, switching on the dim yellowy light.

 I stared at myself, my dark green eyes, a mix between my mothers bright green eyes, and my fathers dark brown one's, starring back at my reflection, I looked like a child, even though I was seventeen. My hips were non existent, my chest could be compared to a flat board, I could probably would be mistaken for a guy if I didn't have my long, dark red hair, that accented my pale freckle filled skin. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, letting out a long yawn.  _Maybe I should take some sleeping pills tonight so I could get a good night's sleep._ I walked over to the shower, reaching behind the curtain to turn on the water, the light, soothing sound of the water hitting the tub rang through my ears, bringing me slight relaxation, as I moved away from the shower to take my t-shirt and underwear off, folding my blanket as well. I placed the clothes onto the towel rack so I wouldn't forget them when I got out of the shower. I stepped into the bright white bathtub, letting the cold water flow freely over my face and my neck, all the way down my chest. I pushed my hair back with my hands, as I grabbed a bar of soap, running it over my body, making sure to not miss an inch. I scrubbed hard, trying to wake myself up so I wouldn't fall asleep during class. I could tell I was going a little overboard when my skin began to turn a cherry red, so I decided to stop before I did anymore damage. I rinsed the soap off my body, and grabbed the bottle of shampoo for my hair, putting a generous amount into the palm of my hand. I lathered the soap into my hair, dragging my nails over my scalp. I let out a small sigh, as I dipped my head down, and rinsed the shampoo out. I turned off the water, and straightened out, squeezing all the water out of my hair, before reaching out and grabbing my towel, wrapping it around myself before stepping out of the shower. I proceeded to walk out of the bathroom, closing the light and the door behind me, holding my t-shirt, blanket and shorts against me, ignoring my reflection this time. My damp feet left small wet footsteps on the floor, as I went back into my bedroom. I grabbed my army jacket, a pair of black tights, a regular fit t-shirt, and some underwear, completely forgetting about the bra, since I didn't really need one. I pulled on every piece of clothing that I gathered, tightening my watch around my wrist. Throwing my towel into the hamper before pulling on my muddy Converse.  _I can't remember when the mud got on them, but it gave a completely new character to them, which I enjoyed quite a lot, I didn't like the bright white anyways._ I grabbed my light blue backpack, a small red stain,  _probably from my hair dye,_ I threw the bag over my shoulders, taking one last glance at my room, a small sigh escaped my lips, as I closed the door, making my way down to the main level, seeing my mother passed out on the couch, a few empty liquor bottles scattered across the coffee table. I slowly tip toed over to her, hoping that I wouldn't wake her as I gathered the empty bottles in my arms, and successfully I didn't.

 

  _She began drinking sometime at the beginning of the year after my dad left, I remember coming home and seeing all the bags packed, my mom crying and screaming that he couldn't leave her, not at a time like this. I was so confused, yet when I went to comfort her she just ignored me, and she's been ignoring me ever since. I've at least made an attempt to speak to her, but she gives no reply._ I walked to the kitchen, placing all of the bottles in a line, from largest to smallest on the island in the center of the kitchen.  _I wish I could hide the alcohol sometimes, just so she would start talking to me again._ I hopped over to the cupboard, grabbing a granola bar from one of the boxes. I took one last look into the living room, longing for her to possibly wake up and say goodbye to me, yet she doesn't and my heart sinks just a little bit. I shook myself out of my thoughts, and opened the wrapper of the granola bar, while I exited from the back door of the house, making sure to close, and lock it properly. The cold winter air blew my hair across my face, causing me to move it out of my sight. I turned around, and walked down the wooden porch steps, huddling into my large green army jacket, craving the warmth. I took a large bite of the granola bar, slowly savoring the sweet and salty flavor, the white chocolate melting on my tongue, I placed the bar between my teeth, while I unlocked the fence that led to the football field of the school.  _I was pretty lucky that my backyard was basically the school. The woods was probably the biggest thing that I liked about it though, since it was the easiest escape from my usual home life._ I zipped up my jacket, all the way up to my neck, as I set off on my journey towards the fairly large building, that was dark and ominous through the heavy snowfall. Snow crushed beneath my feet, soaking through the canvas and dry mud that my shoes carried, I cringed slightly at the feeling, as I took yet another large bite of the granola bar, I got closer and closer to my destination, looking down at my wrist watch.  _Going to arrive right after the announcements._ I continued to walk, keeping my ears trained on the crushing sound of the snow.  _I had never seen this much snow coming down at the beginning of December._ I could feel my hair freezing on the ends, the top of my scalp soaking up the small snowflakes that fell onto it,  _a second shower in a sense._ I stepped off the football field, and began walking through the parking lot where most of the teachers parked either their shitty, run down cars, or their sports cars, you could tell which one's had been teaching longer from the cars. My eyes fixated on a bright red car that had a dent on the side of it,  _must've been a rough night._ I finished the granola bar completely, throwing the wrapper out into the nearest garbage that I walked by. My eyes leered over to the smoker stairs, seeing them blowing out large wads of smoke, and even though I was about twenty feet away from them, I could still smell the harsh scent of tobacco, mixed with the strong scent of marijuana.  _At this time in the morning? I don't know how I would survive if I was high during some of the lectures that the teachers give._ I got a little closer to them, and walked right by them, they were completely unfazed, like they didn't even notice me,  _which was something that I grew accustomed to over time._

I walked up the front steps, taking a deep breath in, and out before opening the door and entering the school. My nose went into overdrive, many scents hitting me all at once. The spicy smells of cheap and expensive colognes mixed together, some body odor laced with it. I missed the morning rush, which was awesome, even though I was later than usual. I walked by a few people, bumping shoulders with them, no apologies were exchanged.  _Teens had no manners these days._ I skipped a few steps as I went to my morning class, which was biology, the teacher rarely closed the door, knowing that most of us would be late since it was the morning, and it was also the cold days of winter, so traffic was a factor as well. I entered the room, going all the way to the back of the class, where nobody was. I put my bag down on the seat beside me, and pulled the dark red chair out from under the long table, everyone looking over at me immediately like I murdered someone, even though it was just the scratching of the chair dragging across the white lament floor.  _I guess everyone hated the noise._ The biology teacher usually let us do whatever we want, it was pretty much an easy A as long as you did the homework, and studied when you needed to. The class lasted an hour and fifteen minutes, once in a while Mr. Milton would ask if we were okay with the content, and most of the time we wouldn't even give an answer, we just stayed silent. This went on the whole day, for every period. No one would talk, and it was pretty much a study day. I guess it was the weather that caused everyone to go into lazy mode, hell even teachers were lazy during this time of the year.  _Hibernation season._

 I took the long way home that afternoon, going through the snow filled town. I kept my eyes on my shoes the whole time, only stopping when I accidentally stepped on my own shoelace and untied it. I let out a grunt of frustration, crouching down to tie my shoe, my back cracking loudly like ice when it cracks under the weight of feet. I leaned against a lamp post, quickly tightening the shoe lace, making a double knot so it wouldn't come out this time. I stood back up, grazing a piece of paper, a poster with big, bold, red lettering catching my eye.  _ **Missing: Christoph Schneider.**_ My eyes ran over his photo, he had bluish grey eyes, which was framed by a light shade of eyeliner. His hair was a medium length, just above his shoulders, and was curled, the dark brown color casting a small shadow on his cheeks.  _ **Age: 43.**_ He definitely didn't look 43 at all, in fact he looked fairly youthful.  _ **Height: 6'3ft, Weight: 185lbs, Specific Features: Drummer of Rammstein. If there is any information on this case please contact the police urgently. 100% confidentiality guaranteed.** Yet another missing person, only this time it's someone really special apparently, someone who is part of a band, if that is the guys 'special feature'._ I stared at the picture for one more minute, feeling a sense of  _Déjà vu, it felt like just yesterday that there was a different photo of a young woman, who probably hasn't been found, she was around my age._ _I proceeded to flip up the man's picture, seeing Cassidy Elmer, the previous person who was missing. I remember her acting up the day before she went missing, I overheard her saying that she felt like someone was watching her, and I guess that someone was...Especially after she went missing._ _I let Christoph's photo fall in front of her's, not wanting to go through the whole pile of Missing posters. I then continued my journey home, walking by the local stores, right by the cigar shop, that had a few men sitting outside on the metal benches, huddled up in their coats as they took long drags from their expensive cigars. I adverted my gaze from them, not garnering any attention from them. They seemed quite dangerous, probably retired military officers, or cops. I was quite small, about 5ft 2, so of course they were intimidating to me._ _I could see a few people from my school sitting outside one of the_ corner stores, they were all laughing, as they smoked some cheap cigarettes. A girl from my Biology class sat on Ben Kilgners lap, her arms draped around his neck, as they stared longingly at each other, breathing smoke into each others faces.  _How romantic. Ben had been in my class since grade nine, and only spoke to me for that year, until he got ripped to shreds by a few people for even speaking to me._ I walked by them, once again my gaze avoided their's.  _Not like they would even look at me anyways, they were on a whole different level that they didn't even look at someone that was lower than them._ I wanted to tell them off, but I knew that it wasn't my place to do so.  _If, and when it does happen though, they will deserve it._ I turned down my street, stepping into the untouched snow, my feet getting soaked in the process. The mud was still clearly on my shoes, and was definitely never going to come off, since I had been walking in the snow for a good fifteen minutes, and the dark brown mud didn't even fade. I looked around at the houses of my street, some people were outside shoveling their driveways, as kids jumped into the piles of snow, throwing handfuls of the fluffy snow into the air, letting it gracefully fall over their wool hats. Their laughs filled my ears, the joy warming my heart.  _Their innocence and purity was fascinating, they didn't have a care in the world, no stress, no worry, they just focused on whatever was happening. They weren't drowning in alcohol, or smoking like chimneys, they were just...Living._ I got to the end of the street where my dark bricked house was located. There was no car parked, but it looked like my mom had a struggle to get over the mountain of snow that was piled heavily in front of the long winded driveway. I gracefully hopped over the snowbank, and walked towards the large steps that led to the large, dark wooden door, that had a black see through screen in front of it. I gripped the cold metal railing tightly, holding myself against it so I wouldn't slip on a patch of ice and fall down the stairs, knowing that my mother probably didn't put any salt down, since she was probably a little hungover, and dazed from the prior night of drinking.

 I got up to the landing, taking the key out of the side pocket of my bag, unlocking the door, pushing it open. I stepped into the house, the toasty temperature engulfing my ice cold flesh. I took off my shoes, wiping my damp feet on the carpet, I put the keys back into the side pocket, as I walked across the living room, towards the kitchen. Immediately noticing the empty bottles that I had put on the counter, broken and scattered across the floor. I let out a small sigh, placing my backpack on the counter, grabbing the mini duster and dustpan from under the sink, walking over to the pile of glass, dragging the brush across the floor, swiping it into the plastic pan, the sound of the glass scratching across the floor making my ears ring. I threw the shattered glass into the garbage can, putting the brush and dustpan under the sink. I let out a small sigh, slowly standing up. I grabbed my bag, throwing it over my shoulder before making my way up the stairs quickly. I entered my bedroom, gently placing the light blue backpack on the floor, as I unzipped my jacket, throwing it onto my dresser. I took my tights off as well, exchanging them for shorts, as I shuffled over to my unmade bed, grabbing the knitted quilt off the ground. I wrapped it around myself before dropping onto my bed, my head hitting my soft pillow. I let out a light breath, a sigh of relaxation as my sleepless brain began to doze off. 

 ------

 The loud booming sound of thunder awoke me during the night. Immediately I shot up from my bed, breathing heavily. My room was pitch black, I couldn't even see my own hand in front of me. The pang of rain hitting the roof top echoed through my room, surrounding me. I felt a breeze brush by my nose,  _must've accidentally left the window open._  I placed my face in my hands, catching my breath against them. I dragged them down my cheeks, letting out a little sigh, when I finally calmed down, another crash of thunder, accompanied by lightning shot me back into panic, but not because of the sudden noise, it was what I saw. A silhouette at the edge of my bed, casting a shadow onto my wall. I placed my hand on my mouth, hoping that the person didn't notice me. I slowly moved towards my bedside table, reaching for my lamp, or pocket knife, hoping to god that I wouldn't make a sudden noise. I lifted the pocket knife, and raised my hand to the switch to turn on the light. I took a deep breath against my hand, quickly turning on the lamp, the dim light shining providing me the sight I needed to scope out the situation completely. I was about to scream, seeing who the intruder was.  _It was the man who was missing._ His hair was dripping wet, his t-shirt soaked with the rain from outside. He looked distressed, and scared quite frankly, probably just as much as me.

 "Please! Please don't scream!" He begged, his thick German accent ringing through my ears. I felt tears weld up in my eyes, as I flicked open the knife so the blade was exposed. I stared at him, my hand shaking. His grayish blue eyes observed the knife, my stomach turned with fear, and anxiety, and I could tell that he was feeling the same way,  _I mean...I was holding a knife up at him basically threatening his life._

"And why shouldn't I?" I replied, my voice coarse, and shaky, like I hadn't used it in so long. He moved towards me holding his hands up still. I backed away from him, my back pressed up against the headboard, with the knife in front of me still.

 "Because I'm already dead, and there's no point in making yourself look like a crazy person." He reasoned,  _dead?_ I slowly closed the knife, eyeing him suspiciously. He sat down on the foot of my bed, and I could feel it shift down. 

 "What do you mean by...Dead?" I raised my eyebrow, watching the droplets of water fall off the tips of his hair. He glance over at me, blinking several times, thinking about the answer. This gave me enough time to take in the features of his face, just in case he tried to steal something, or attacked me.  _Light stubble, his blue-grey eyes, the hair._

"I have no heart beat...I can..." He paused for a moment and took in a deep breath.

 "SCREAM AS LOUD AS I WANT!" He yelled. My ears ringing loudly.

 "And...Nobody can hear me..." I stared at him, placing my hands on my temples.

 "Then why can I hear you?" I asked, eyeing him. He raised his shoulders.

 "I don't know...Maybe it's because you saw or acknowledged my Missing poster...I don't know...Like at all. The only thing I know was that I could see a beacon of light right where your house was...So I followed it...That's all." He explained, completely confused about what he was saying, like he didn't understand it. He let out a shaky breath, shivering because of how cold he was. I got up and quickly closed the window, locking it tightly.

 "Here...I'll go grab you some dry clothes...I think my dad might've left some things behind." I muttered, walking out of my bedroom. I tip toed to my mothers room, opening the door slightly. I poked my head in, scanning the room, checking if the coast was clear, _which it was._ I stepped in, working quickly to gather some clothes. I found a shirt, some track pants, boxer short, and a few extra blankets that the man could use. _I couldn't even remember his name._ I exited my mom's room, closing the door behind me gently. I made my way across the hall, entering my bedroom again, pushing the door until it clicked behind me. The man turned around his eyes scanning the clothes.

  "Oh thank goodness, I'm freezing." He exclaimed, prying his soaked shirt off. I caught a few glances of his slightly toned muscles, that were covered with a few deep wounds. I winced, tearing my eyes away from him. I turned my head towards the doorway, so I wasn't staring. _Maybe he already noticed them?_ I felt an article of clothing being taken off from the pile. 

"What's your name?" He inquired curiously. I felt a small warm breeze flow across my bare legs from the vent that was right beside me. 

 "Adeline...Can you remind me what your's is?" Two pieces of clothing was taken out of my arms, as I heard a few things dropping to the ground. I kept my eyes fixated on the dark wooden door. 

 "Christoph, but you can just call me Schneider...Everyone does...Or did at least." He croaked, I felt the extra blankets being taken off my arms, which indicated to me that he was finished changing. I turned my head back to him. Schneider picked up his wet clothes and held them up.

 "Where do you want me to put these?" I shrugged, holding my hand out.

 "I'll go throw them into the hamper." He carefully handed the wet clothes to me. I glanced up at him briefly, causing him to turn around and grab the spare blanket off my bed. I quickly hopped over to my mother's room throwing the soaked clothes into the hamper, and made my way back in record time. I returned, and closed the door behind me, noticing Schneider sitting on my window sill, the blanket wrapped around him. I climbed into my bed, with my back against the headboard, as the roaring thunder shot through my ears, the power going out in the process. I let out a small groan, turning onto my side to face the window. Lightening flashed through the window, my eyes being able to observe Schneider, without him really noticing. His breath fogged up the window. _If he was dead...Then how was he able to interact with the world like a normal human...Was he some sort of ghost? Is this all just a dream...A figment of my imagination?_ I could hear him begin to snore, which was a sign for me to get some sleep as well, _or at least try to._ I kept my eyes on Schneider for as long as I could keep them open, until my heavy eyelids began to droop, engulfing me in the darkness of my dreams. 


	2. Ghost

 I shot up from my bed instantly, drowning in a puddle of sweat. My heart was racing, beating a thousands times a minute. I was gasping for air, my chest feeling like it was caving in on itself. Immediately I reached over to my side table, tapping around for my puffer in sheer panic, I gasped for as much air as I could, hoping that I wasn't going to pass out. I finally managed to grab it, taking the small rectangular cap off, I breathed heavily, taking deep breaths in and out as slow as I possibly could, before pressing down on the top button, emitting the bitter puff of medicine into my mouth. I coughed loudly, putting my arm over my mouth to shield it from echoing through the room. I took another deep breath of the puffer's air, and put the cap back on, a little more relaxed than before, but still quite tense from the nightmare that just came to haunt me in the depths of my mind. 

 "You okay?" Schneider's booming voice asked sleepily from the window sill that he still occupied. I almost forgot that he was there, I probably would've if he didn't say anything to be honest. I glanced over at him, a faint look of confusion painted on my face like I was trying to figure out my own feelings. 

 "Yeah...I guess." I replied, leaning back against the headboard, feeling a bead of sweat dripping down the small of my back. I could feel his gaze burning into the side of my face. I turned my head, our eyes meeting, my eyebrows were raised in reaction to his facial expression. From the reflection of the bright white snow that was outside, shining into my room I could see a look of concern, and disbelief drawn across his face. 

 "What...You don't believe me?" He shook his head, turning his head back to the window. 

 "I don't think someone screaming bloody murder, and having a panic attack in their sleep would recover as quickly as you just did...That's why I don't really believe that you're actually okay." He commented. His accent was quite intriguing,  _we barely got visitors from other cities, let alone other countries._

"Well...I can say that I've experienced worse. So I'm fine. No need to worry..." I confirmed, earning a snort from Schneider. He turned his head to me again.

 "You're the only person that can actually help me solve what actually happened to me...So I do have to worry." He informed. This sparked several thoughts into my mind, like any normal person, I was asking myself why I was so important in solving this thing, and why the hell didn't anyone else who was missing come to me as well. Something was fishy. I quickly turned over turning on the lamp, emitting the dim yellow light into the room. I faced him yet again, with my feet now placed on the floor, the comforter hanging over me loosely. I immediately began shaking my head.

 "It doesn't make any fucking sense. I've looked at other missing people's photo's, and I don't think I see a fucking line up outside my door...So why is it specifically you?" I asked, motioning to him. 

 "Listen, I don't know. Believe me. If I did know I would've told you, especially because I basically broke into your room without any sort of explanation...The only thing I know is that you need to help me. The only person who has actually given me some type of instruction is an unknown voice. 'The light will provide you with the help needed'...That's what it said, and so I followed it, and the light led me here..." My confusion was even worse now, mind flooding with even more questions, like the ultimate flood in the Noah's Arc storyline of the Bible. Only this was a flood that was going to ultimately destroy my psyche.

 "Are you a...Ghost?" I asked, not trying to sound like a complete idiot. He let out a small sigh, turning to face me, mirroring my sort of position, with the spare blankets loosely hanging over his shoulders. A faint smirk across his face. 

 "I don't know...Do I look like a ghost?" He replied, turning his head from side to side like I was taking a photo of him. I shook my head, taking time to observe the slight colour in his skin.  _He didn't even look dead._  I've never seen a dead body before in person, maybe in law class, but those were only pictures. Most of the time the person was pale, leaning towards the grey side almost, and Schneider was far from that. There was no visible evidence that I had seen that proved to me he was dead except for those stab wounds, which only gave me a small clue about what happened to him. God only knows what must've happened to him. His gaze met mine, the mix of the green and blue boring into my soul, a small sigh escaping from his lips.

 "All joking aside...The only thing that is certain is that I'm dead, and there is definitely no coming back from that." He murmured, averting his gaze,  _he must've had family, kids, people that actually missed him._ Things began to dawn on me, he was a drummer of a band, all those fans...They're expecting him to come back...His bandmates are expecting him to be alive and well, they just think he's lost. My heart broke so badly thinking about all the hurt and pain that the devastation will cause. 

 "How long have you been missing for?" I pressed, hoping that he would know the answer. He shrugged, shaking his head.  _How could he not know? He died._ He placed his head in his hands, rubbing his face, probably in frustration since he couldn't remember. I got up, clutching the blanket around my shoulders as I walked towards him, slowly taking a seat beside him on the cold window sill. 

 "I'm sorry I'm asking all these questions...I know it must be hard..." I was about to put my hand on his back to comfort him, but my hand went straight through him, he yelped in pain immediately standing up from the window sill, touching where my hand went through. I began apologizing, over and over again, until he raised his hand up, signalling me to stop.

 "It's okay...Not even I knew that would happen." He replied calmly, still rubbing his shoulder, looking over at me with an unreadable expression. 

 "I'm sor-." Immediately he hushed me, glancing over at my bedside clock.

 "Don't you have school or something?" A small confused look appeared on my face. 

 "It's a Saturday." I giggled, Schneider's face instantly turned red with slight embarrassment, taking a seat on my bed. I stared at how the bed contorted to his body, the whole thing still making my brain go in knots from thinking about it too hard. I scratched the back of my neck, pushing my wavy, tangled hair over my shoulder. He stared back at me.

 "So...You're a student?" I nodded, noticing that it was now my turn to answer questions.

 "And you live with your parents?" He pressed a little more.

 "Just my mom, my dad moved out at the beginning of this year. I never found out why, and to this day my mom doesn't talk to me and gets drunk almost every night just to avoid me, and her existing problems. So I'm assuming that I will never get the answers that I want." I explained, not really being bothered by it anymore, and you could sense he noticed this. I ignored his reaction, getting up from the window sill, walking by him. 

 "I'm going to go wash up quickly. Are you getting hungry or something?" I asked, so I could dodge anymore more questions that he would probably start asking, as well as trying to be a good host, especially because I'm probably going to be stuck with him for a while. I glanced over at him, seeing him staring down at his stomach. I raised my eyebrows waiting for his answer. He shrugged.

 "I'm okay I think..." He paused for a moment as if he was thinking.

 "Actually...I don't know for sure, we'll see if I'm hungry once you get out of the shower." He replied softly, taking a seat on my bed. I walked out of the room, closing the door behind me, I made my way to the washroom, still clutching the comforter around me. Quietly I entered the bathroom, gently hearing the door click. I turned on the light, the bright fluorescent white punching me across my face. I squinted, rubbing my eyes due to the irritation that it caused, hanging the comforter up on the hook. I pried my shirt, shorts and underwear off, hanging them up as well. I twisted the cold metal knob of the shower, listening to the pang of the water hitting the tub. I stepped in quickly, letting the cold liquid hit my body, willingly engulfing every inch of me. I smiled, turning around, so it could run down my back, causing the satisfying shivers that I somehow enjoyed. I grabbed the bar of soap, rubbing it along my shoulders, over my ribs. I winced, feeling a tinge of pain, immediately I pulled my hand back seeing my hand covered in blood, I felt my breath hitch in my throat, sheer panic shooting through me. I shook my head back and forth quickly, closing my eyes tightly, hoping that this was just a dream. I opened my eyes hoping that the blood was gone, which it was. I glanced down at my ribs, seeing no sort of cut of an incision. I let out a shaky sigh, continuing to wash up, trying to push the image into the back of my mind, passing it off as a hallucination due to lack of sleep. A faint feeling of discomfort stayed with me as I rinsed myself off, my mind still in panic mode. All of the sudden the door busted open, then slammed shut. I instantly screamed, still shaken up by what I just saw a minute or two prior to this.

 "Jesus Christ Schneider! What the fuck are you doing?" I exclaimed, poking my head out from behind the dark, sea-themed shower curtain. Schneider's back was against the door, his breathing was heavy, his chest rising and falling rapidly, his wavy hair hung over his face, covering the slight embarrassment he was in. 

 "I heard something, like a crash...Several crashes. I fucking panicked, what else was I supposed to do?!" He asked, trying to look at anything but me.  _Even though I didn't hear anything,_  I let out a small groan, knowing that the crashes were probably in relation to my mother accidentally dropping things because of her drunken clumsiness. I pulled back and moved the shower curtain to cover the tub completely as I finished rinsing myself off. I turned the water off, squeezing my hair out, before reaching to grab one of the towels, feeling it being handed to me.

 "Thank you." I murmured, pulling the soft fluffy towel into the tub with me, drying myself off quickly, wrapping my towel tightly around myself. I slid the shower curtain to the side, carefully stepping out onto the slightly slippery wet floor. I looked over a Schneider, then at my reflection, letting out a small sigh.

 "Y'know...It was probably just my mom dropping a few bottles. She's done it several times." I informed him, combing my hair out with my fingers. He didn't say anything back, my eyes glanced over at him, noticing his absent expression like he was blanking out. I kept my gaze on him, a concerned look slowly appearing on my face. Out of nowhere, I began to see blood dripping down his stomach, my body threw itself into action, grabbing a towel. 

 "Schneider. Schneider,you're bleeding." I informed worriedly trying to snap him out of his daze. I looked up at him, seeing droplets of blood streaming down his cheeks, coming out of his eyes. His nose began to bleed as well.

 "Schneider! Please stop!" I begged, the whites of his eyes turning a bloody red. Suddenly I remembered what I could do to possibly snap him out of it, even though it might get him really angry, I ignored it though, quickly walking up to him and putting my hand through his chest. He let out a scream, I pulled my hand out, wishing that I could catch him when he dropped to his knees. I looked at the tips of my fingers, seeing blood on them.  _Holy shit. Holy shit._ Schneider leaned against the door, coughing loudly. He lifted his hand up to his face. wiping the streams of blood off his cheeks, a light glaze of sweat forming on his forehead. 

 "Jesus Christ what happened?" He asked, looking at the crimson red blood on his hands. I rinsed my hand off, drying it with the towel I was holding before,  _not wanting to mention the blood to Schneider_. I glanced over at him, and motioned to the shower.

 "Clean up." I instructed, ignoring his question because I didn't have an answer for him, unless he wanted to hear me freak out about how fucking scared I was. He didn't press me for an explanation, he just nodded and slowly got up from the ground, moving out of my way so I could get out. I exited the washroom, hearing the door close behind me. I leaned against the wall, holding the towel against me.  _What the fuck just happened?_ I looked down at my hand, seeing the light tinge of red on my fingertips, and dried up blood under my fingernails. Something was really wrong.

 ------

 I stood under the warm flowing water, letting it run down me, thinking about what I saw.  _Bondie Lake had some sort of connection with these missing posters. Adeline must know where this place is, especially if she's lived here for a while. From what I can remember, there was several splashes, like something was being thrown in, there was also screaming, and yelling, like someone was being murdered. If there was a place to start, this was definitely it._ I peeked down at the light pink water, watching it go down the drain,  _was this going to be a frequent thing?_ I turned around, putting my head under the water, letting it slowly flow down my face. I grabbed the bar of soap, running it over my shoulders, and chest, seeing the suds turning a light pink as well. I rinsed myself off, and squeezed my hair out, noticing that the water was a light brown. I glanced at my hands, a dark brown, muddish substance slipping through my fingers, dark drops staining the usual white tub. I put my head under the water, rubbing the dried up mud out of my hair.  _Where in the fuck did I get this from?_ I sighed, massaging some shampoo into my scalp, a small green leaf falling into the tub. I bent down, bringing it up into my vision, seeing small splatters of blood on it.  _A clue perhaps._ I placed it on the brink of the tub so I could grab it after. I worked quickly, rinsing myself off as fast as I possibly could. I turned the water off, reaching out to the side of the shower, grabbing one of the spare towels from the side shelf. I stepped out of the shower, drying myself off quickly, tightly wrapping the bath towel around my waist before making my way to the mirror, wiping away the heavy condensation. There was streaks of red on my face, outlines from the dried up blood that flowed down my face. I rubbed it off quickly with my hand, staring at myself.  _I looked like a wet poodle._ I pushed my hair out of my face, and grabbed the green leaf, before making my way out of the bathroom, turning the light off behind me. I made my way to her bedroom, giving a gentle knock on the door just to give her a warning. I could hear the floor creak beneath my feet, hearing the handle twist and turn. My eyes immediately meeting hers. She wore a red and black plaid shirt, which was accompanied by a black tank top beneath it, and black jeans,  _probably her casual get-up_. She was towel drying her long wavy red hair, her eyes shining with such interest and confusion, glancing down at the green blood splattered leaf. 

 "What's that?" She asked, backing up out of the doorway to let me in. I entered the cosy room, placing it gently in the palm of her hand. She lifted it up, examining it closely. I stared at her, watching her eyes roam over it.

 "Where did you get this from?" She pressed, placing it down on her bedside table, as she continued to towel dry her hair. I took a seat on the window sill, holding my towel tightly against me so it didn't fall when I sat down.  _That would be embarrassing._ I shook my head slowly, and shrugged.

 "I don't know. I was showering and it fell into the tub, there was also loads of dried mud in my hair..." She glanced over her shoulder, as she tied her hair up into a fairly large bun, not saying anything because of how weird it sounded probably. 

 "I...I think that this place...Bondie lake....Has something to do with it." I added, automatically seeing her tense up at the mention of the place.  _Bad memories?_ I kept my eyes glued to her as she went over to her dresser, and pulled out the top drawer, digging around for something. I waited a few moments, finally seeing her lift up a large, dark blue sweater. She slid into it, pulling it down so it wasn't puffy and baggy. Her gaze met mine. 

 "Do you want to go there?" She asked, leaning against the dresser, her arms crossing over her chest. 

 "Well...It wouldn't just be me...I need you to take me there." I mentioned under my breath, noticing reluctance in her eyes. She didn't say anything, like she was thinking about it. My stomach turned, and knotted, hoping that she would say okay, or at least give me a sign of a yes. She averted her gaze, looking down at her sweater, then back up at me, looking directly at me. It stayed silent for a few more moments, keeping our eyes on each other. A few seconds past, and I began to feel nervous, like she was really going to say no, until I heard the most reluctant and forced sigh, a sigh that made it seem like I was holding her against her will.

 "Fine...I'll take you, but we are not staying for that long." She said coldly, like a mother scolding her child. I nodded, not wanting to press her for more information, since it seemed like a touchy subject to her. I heard her take in a deep breath, and push off the dresser. 

"I'll go get you some more clothes, and I'll sneak some food for you." She murmured, walking out of the room. I looked down at my towel, dragging my hand across the fluffy white material. She came back in quickly, placing the spare clothes onto the unmade bed, they were folded neatly, like they hadn't been worn in ages. She picked up a pair of socks, and her green army jacket, before exiting the room, leaving me to change. 

 -----

 I pulled on my ankle socks, and jacket, making my way downstairs slowly, noticing that my mother was nowhere to be seen.  _She probably went to work. Judging by the fact that her dress shoes were not in the doorway._ I saw a broken wine glass on the coffee table, I roamed over the mess, some dark purple wine dripping from the broken glass.  _That's probably what Schneider heard._ I cupped my hand, lifting up the large pieces of the thin glass, the scent of the strong wine hitting my nose. I repulsed it, not just because of the smell, but mostly for what it did to my mom. I loved her, but not that version of her. I carefully walked over to the kitchen, making sure my every step was taken with caution just in case she dropped anything else onto the floor. I got to the garbage bin, pulling it out from under the sink, immediately being hit with the stench of even more alcohol, like she had poured out a bottle of beer, or broke it and attempted to clean it up. I tied the bag up, and went into the garage, throwing it into the garbage bin.

 "Schneider! You can come down if you want! My mom's not home." I yelled, closing the garage door behind me. Immediately I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. 

 "Where is she?" He asked curiously, I shrugged, walking over to the fridge to grab some orange juice, checking the expiration date.

 "She probably went to work." I replied, twisting the cap off the two liter bottle, as I reached up for two glasses, placing them both down on the counter.

 "Work? Isn't she an alcoholic?" I looked over my shoulder, cringing at the word alcoholic. I poured the orange juice into the first glass.

 "It's not like she can't work. She still needs to make money to support both her and I. She sobers up a little when she needs to get work done." I informed, sliding a glass of orange juice to him, pouring myself one as well, putting the bottle back into the fridge. I could feel his eyes following me, as I opened up the cupboard where we had all the cereal. 

 "What do you want to eat?" I asked, glancing over my shoulder at him. He took a sip of the orange juice and shrugged, gulping the liquid down.

 "You only have cereal?" He commented, rubbing his forehead. I rolled my eyes.

 "Does it look like we're in a fucking restaurant Schneider? Yes I only have cereal." I confirmed. He chuckled lightly at me, and let out a long sigh.

 "I'll take the one with that Captain on it..." _Captain Crunch._ I took the box out from the top shelf, and took some Corn Pops out for myself, bringing it over to the island. He grabbed the box, sliding it to him, his eyes scanning over the cartoon character. 

 "How...Immature." I grabbed two bowls, handing one to him.

 "Maybe you're just old." I insulted jokingly. Taking a carton of milk out of the fridge, placing it in front of him, watching him slowly shake some of the cereal into the dark green bowl. I was fascinated by how gentle he was with the box, placing it back onto the counter. I took the Corn Pops box, quickly shaking out the sugary cereal, pouring some milk onto the puffs, before handing it off to Schneider. I scooped a spoonful of cereal out of the bowl, shovelling them into my mouth. The sweet sugar danced across my taste buds, as I let out a small satisfied sigh. 

 "I feel like a child." He murmured, chewing on the crunchy cereal. I shot a gaze at him, and leaned up slightly. 

 "Well, get used to it. You're gonna be with me for a while buddy." He glanced over at me, his face turning a slightly darker red. I smirked. We continued eating in silence until we were finished. I put the empty bowls into the sink, and wiped my mouth off with the back of my hand.

 "Come on, let's go. Are you ready?" I asked, looking over at Schneider. He nodded rapidly, getting up from the stool, a light shadow casting over me due to his height. I walked to the front door, slipping on my muddy Converse. Schneider followed behind me, my eyes noticing that his shoes were already on. I quickly tied the shoelace, and opened the door, letting him out of the house before grabbing my keys and joining him. The cold winter air hitting my face, my blood freezing instantly. Schneider bundled up slightly, as the both of us made our way down the steep steps that led up to the front door. We stepped over the large piles of snow, getting onto the sidewalk. Schneider followed me as I walked carefully, hoping that I wouldn't slip and fall on any ice, but he didn't seem to have a care in the world, knowing that he probably wouldn't break a bone if he fell. 

 "You seemed very reluctant when I mentioned Bondie Lake...Any reason?" He asked curiously, trying to make conversation with me. I shrugged, shoving my hands into my jacket pockets, taking in a deep breath.

 "I've got a few memories that I would rather not relive." I murmured, looking down at my feet, _it wasn't anything too serious, I just didn't enjoy going there, they were just heavily repressed things that I decided to not think about, and in all honesty I couldn't even remember it, I just had a discomfort whenever I would go there._

 "Are they bad?" He asked stupidly. I glanced up at him, my eyebrows raised.

 "What do you think? I just said I have a few memories that I don't want to relive. Piece those hints together." He raised his hands up in a defensive manner.

 "Hey. I was just asking." I sighed, feeling slightly bad about being so hostile towards him. _It's not like he asked for this._

 "Sorry..." I averted my gaze, as we continued our journey to the lake, my heart beginning to pound as we walked by the bright green sign that had Bondie Lake spray painted in a dark blue. It was a heavily wooded area that we would have to walk through to arrive at the water. Our bout of silence was filled with the sounds of cracking sticks and the crunching of the packing snow beneath our feet. It didn't take us too long to make it to the almost frozen water. I could imagine how cold it must've been if you fell through it, and it definitely made me shiver on the inside. I looked up at Schneider, seeing his eyes scanning the atmosphere, squinting at the lake. I watched him closely, seeing the whites of his eyes turning a light pink, the pink slowly fading into a crimson red. My heartbeat began to increase, a feeling of fright creeping up on me. He dropped down to his knees, gasping, as he raised his head, looking out onto the lake still.

 "There's a link here...A huge link, I can hear screaming, don't you hear it?" He asked, glancing up at me. I shook my head rapidly, not hearing what he was hearing. 

 "Someone died here, and somehow it ties into my death." He wiped his eyes, blood staining his hands from the whites of his eyes. I bit the side of my cheek, thinking about what he meant by that. 

 "Maybe you know the person?" He shook his head, looking up at me. 

 "I don't know anyone that has been murdered here...Or murdered in general for that matter." He replied. I glanced down at him, biting my lip now.

 "Maybe the person that killed you...Killed that person as well." I theorized. He raised his eyebrows, pointing at me.

 "Now you're using that brain of yours." He commented. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Folks. I hope you guys are enjoying the story so far! I would love to hear your thoughts about it. Loads of updates will be coming soon :) Be ready :) :)


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